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Thinking About Maintaining Purity
Psalms 119:9-16
September 26, 2021

Tonight we come again to this wonderful 119th Psalm
And the topic of the stanza sits right on top for the whole world to see.

“How can a young man keep his way pure?”

It is a question regarding purity
Or perhaps we might call it sanctification.

It is NOT a question of how a sinful man can be made pure.
• That is done through the process of justification and identification with Christ as the perfect righteousness of Christ is credited to your account.

This ISN’T LIKE the first 8 verses where we have a David floundering in sin and wishing he was one of the righteous who could enjoy fellowship with God.

No, this is a young man who has found purity, at least for a time.
This is a young man whose concern is remaining pure.
This is a young man whose desire is to never return to sin.

“How can a young man keep his way pure?”

Purity is such an important theme in Scripture.

Certainly we are familiar with the foundational Old Testament passage:
Leviticus 11:45 “‘For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

Jesus certainly reiterated it in His Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Both of those statements should certainly suffice to drive us to Christ
Who alone is righteous and who alone can justify us in the sight of God.

However, we know that the command for holiness
DOES NOT STOP WHEN WE GET SAVED.

WE ARE NOT those like Paul referenced in Romans 6 who think it is ok now to fall back into sin since Christ has graciously saved us.

Jude pointed out that it was false believers who promoted such licentious living.

PURITY AND HOLINESS REMAINS THE DESIRE OF ALL BELIEVERS.

Peter spelled it out:
1 Peter 1:13-19 “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Peter was clear that God PAID A HIGH PRICE for us
And that price came with the expectation of holiness.

Peter most certainly learned this from Jesus.
• We remember in the upper room before the disciples took the Last Supper as
Jesus began to wash their feet.

John 13:7-8 “Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

Jesus made a very direct statement.
He’s not interested in fellowship with those who aren’t interested in purity

When Paul spoke of Christ’s relationship wo the church, he wrote:
Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

PURITY IS CHRIST’S DESIRE FOR THE CHURCH.

The writer of Hebrews spoke of the importance of purity or sanctification:
Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

And so certainly we understand
THE VALIDITY to the question of this stanza.

“How can a young man keep his way pure?”

IS A LEGITIMATE QUESTION.

WE ALSO RECOGNIZE in this question that the young man wants to know what HIS PART is in the whole process.

He DOESN’T ask, “God, how do you plan on keeping me pure?”
He asks what he might do to secure it.

And this we also know of sanctification;
Namely that it is a synergistic effort.

We work for it as God also works for it.

The point is clearly made in Philippians 2
Philippians 2:12-13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

We are not into QUIETISM where we just sort of “Let go and let God”
(Regarding the governing authorities, sure – but not regarding our sanctification)

There is very much a Christian responsibility to our sanctification.

Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

Ephesians 4:22-24 “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

There is a definite expectation from God
That as Christians we will labor and strive for purity.

And that is all bound up in the question of this stanza of Psalms 119.

“How can a young man keep his way pure?”

And the ANSWER and MAIN POINT of the stanza is this:
“By keeping it according to Your word.”

David sees the word of God as the necessary tool
To preserving the pure life of the believer.

Ten years ago when we last studied this stanza we laid out here 4 points
That we can once again hit quickly.

And if you want to see them in more detail then that sermon is still on our website.
This second time around we aren’t looking at the forest, we’ll look at one of the trees.

We talked about: HIS CONCERNS
Which are evident in verses 9-11

He was concerned with PURITY in verse 9
“How can a young man keep his way pure?”

He was concerned about APATHY in verse 10
“Do not let me wander from Your commandments”

He was concerned about INIQUITY in verse 11
“That I may not sin against You.”

These are certainly legitimate concerns
Of the man of God in a sin infested world.

• Staying pure amidst temptation.
• Not growing apathetic with our commitment.
• Not falling into sin.

Those are real issues, and with every single one of those issues
THE SOLUTION WAS THE SAME THING.

GOD’S WORD.

Purity is maintained: “By keeping it according to Your word.”
Apathy is avoided: By seeking God “with all my heart”
Iniquity is rejected: By treasuring or hiding God’s word “in my heart.”

There really is a 1 to 1 correlation here.
• When you see a believer slip into impurity…
• When you see a believer become apathetic about the things of God…
• When you see a believer commit sin against God in any way…

There is 1 COMMON DENOMINATOR behind all of those.
The believer at some level has neglected God’s word.

The word of God is that which guides the believer into purity.
The word of God is that which holds the believer in obedience.
The word of God is that which keep the believer from iniquity.

When you see a believer struggle in those areas
You can always trace it back to an apathetic approach to Scripture.

That was the young man’s CONCERN,
And the solution was Scripture.

We talked about HIS DESIRE in verse 12.

Namely that he wanted God to “Teach me Your statutes.”

If God’s word is the source of purity
Then by all means we approach God and ask to learn His word.

But the way he asks it is very interesting.
• He starts by saying, “Blessed are You, O LORD”
• And then he says, “Teach me Your statutes.”

It is him asking THE ULTIMATE EXPERT for guidance.
• It might be like asking Nolan Ryan to teach you how to throw a fastball
• Or Tiger Woods to teach you how to hit a driver
• Or Bob Vila how to make a dovetail drawer.

God is the ultimate in matters of purity and holiness.
There is no higher standard.
There is no better teacher.

His plan is THE plan. His blueprint is THE blueprint.

And so this young man who recognizes a need for purity
Shows a DESIRE to learn that purity from God’s directives.

From there we see HIS SATISFACTION

(13-14) “With my lips I have told of All the ordinances of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.”

The point here is that God’s word has NEVER DISAPPOINTED him.
• He is not the least bit concerned in asking God for counsel.
• He is not the least bit concerned that it will be bad instruction.

Every time God has given an ordinance it has been so good that
The Psalmist couldn’t help but share it with others.

Every time God has given a command it has delighted the Psalmist
More than a great heap of treasures.

And all of this simply points to the fact that in his quest for purity
• The Psalmist has recognized that there is only one place to find it
• That place will not disappoint
• Because the author of this word is the holy God.

Where else are you going to go to learn about holiness better than God?
God’s word leads to purity.
God’s word leads to sanctification.

Can I remind you of some of these principles?

Galatians 16-17 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

That is a great promise.
• Our flesh is sinful and weak and prone to stumbling under temptation.

If our flesh is all we have we will never defeat sin.
But to combat the flesh we have the Spirit who wars against the flesh.

And Paul says “walk by the Spirit,
And you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”

Well how do you do that?
How do you “walk by the Spirit”?

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

Hopefully you recognize that as the sister passage to Ephesians 5:18
Where Paul says to be “filled with the Spirit”.

The point is this.
• Only the Spirit can help you overcome the flesh.
• Only the Spirit can give you victory over the flesh.
• Only the Spirit can produce sanctification in your life.
• Only the Spirit can lead you to purity.
• And He does it exclusively through the word of God.

If you try to exclude the word of God from your life
You will never achieve the purity you seek.

Trying to find holiness without the Scripture
Is like trying to get wet without water.

IT WON’T HAPPEN.

The Psalmist here knows that he needs the Scripture to achieve the purity he seeks.
And the Scripture has never failed to satisfy him.

Well all of that then leads to HIS PLAN
(15-16) “I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways. I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.”

And I think tonight this is where I want to spend
Perhaps a little more time and take a little closer look.
(let’s look at this tree)

“I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways.”

“meditate” translates: SIAH (see-akh)

It means “to talk” with the implication of talking to yourself.
It can even be translated “to complain” which indicates a conversation
In which you don’t understand everything so you are talking it out.

And this is the idea here.

This verse GIVES WEIGHT to everything he has already said.

The Psalmists desire to meditate on Scripture
Is the indicator that his commitment to Scripture
As a means to purity is legitimate.

On Wednesday nights with the youth…
We do a thing called “Popcorn Prayer”.

• That is we make everyone around the room participate in the prayer, but no one is allowed to pray more than one sentence.
• We started this because I wanted to break the notion in these kids at an early age that they could not participate in a corporate prayer meeting of the church.

I run across too many adults who are intimidated or unwilling to participate in a corporate prayer time and so we are sort of trying to push these youth past that fear at an early age.

On a weekly basis we hear prayers like this:
• “Let everyone come closer to You”
• “Help me to read Your word more”
• “Help me to share Your word with other people”

And there is nothing wrong with that, those are great requests.

In fact, those are some of the same requests
That the Psalmist made in the first 6 verses of this stanza.

And yet, I am well aware that
Though these students may in fact utter these requests
They may or may not mean it.

IT IS ONE THING to acknowledge that the Bible needs to read,
IT IS ANOTHER TO ACTUALLY READ IT.

WE COULD ALSO SAY:

IT IS ONE THING to read the Bible consistently,
IT IS ANOTHER THING TO BE COMMITTED TO UNDERSTANDING IT.

• Acknowledging that Bible can help you with purity is one thing…
• Knowing the Bible can keep you from straying from God is one thing…
• Seeing that the Bible can keep you from falling into sin is one thing…

But the OBJECTIVE IS NOT just to cause you
To have a proper understanding of how good the Bible is.

The objective is to READ it and to UNDERSTAND it.

We know that when the Psalmist says he wants purity
That he is not just making religious statements.

And we know this because not only does he recognize the value of Scripture but we see his commitment to understand Scripture.

He says, “I will meditate on Your precepts”

“I am going to read your word, and I am going to have an inner conversation; even an argument with myself about your word.”

I am not just going to read it, check the box, and then move on.
• I am going to chew on it…
• I am going to argue on it…
• I am going to debate it…
• I am going to squeeze it until I get more out of it…

This statement from the Psalmist tells us so much
About his heart regarding God’s word and finding purity through it.

NOW LET ME BRING HOME WHAT I MEAN.

Have you ever been on a Bible reading plan and you came across a verse that you didn’t understand?

• Maybe it was a statement or an entire verse or even an entire story that didn’t make sense to you.

And the question is: WHAT DO YOU DO?

Do you just shrug your shoulders and say, “Oh well” and go on,
Or do you stop and meditate until you understand?

This is one of the greatest blessings
Of being a preacher or a teacher of God’s word.

Because you come across a passage or even a book like an Ecclesiastes which may have many statements which you do not comprehend.

But what is hanging over your head is the fact that in a few days people are going to show up to hear you teach that verse and to say, “I don’t know what that means” and go on is not acceptable.

So out of obligation you will mediate, you will argue, you will talk it out, you will complain until you can get some sense of the passage because you are going to be tasked with explaining it.

NOW TEACHERS HAVE TO DO THIS ALL THE TIME.

But this young man DOESN’T SAY ANYTHING
About meditating on God’s word because he has to teach it in 3 days.

WHY IS HE MEDITATING ON GOD’S WORD?
• Because he believes God’s word holds the keys to the life of purity.
• He believes God’s word is a treasure that can keep him from sin.
• He believes God’s word is more valuable than all earthly riches.

And so when he reads a passage he doesn’t understand
He is not willing to just pass it over, no!
He wrestles until he gets what he seeks.

• What does that tell you about his desire for purity?
• What does that tell you about his belief that the Bible can supply it?

See, you know his desire for purity is genuine
Because of his commitment to understand what he reads.

IN ADDITION: What does it say about our love for God if we don’t care if we understand His word?

Let’s say you are young and are dating and you’ve got a sweet thing that just turns your world over.

Now, in my day, if you were apart you had two options.
You could talk on the phone or you could write a card or letter.

Now days they text, which only proves I’m getting too old, but that’s what they do.

Now, do you remember getting a card or letter or text from that person you were crazy about?

But in that letter or text they make a statement
That doesn’t make sense to you.
What do you?

Do you just skip over it and say, “Oh well, who knows?”
Or do you meditate upon it and try to figure it out.

Your dedication to understanding is testimony to your love for the author.

That is what we are getting from the Psalmist.

And I don’t mind telling you that
I think meditation upon God’s word
Is perhaps the most under used discipline in the church.

Christian book stores are filled with 3 minute daily devotions…
(some of them only quote a verse or part of a verse and fill the time with heart-warming stories or illustrations)

But the true discipline of Bible study and meditation upon a difficult passage is a rarity.
• By in large the church is too lazy.
• By in large the church is too complacent.

It takes work to make the obscure become clear.
I use the analogy of “hammering at the rock”
It’s like mining.

SO WHY DOES THE PSALMIST DO IT?

Look at what he says next:
“And regard Your ways.”

“Regard” translates
NABAT (na-vat)
“pay attention to; consider; show regard for”

It is because he sees value in what God knows.

LET’S SAY you bought a new electronic or something that has to be assembled but THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE UNCLEAR.

• Do you just throw the electronic in the corner or leave the
unassembled pieces in the box?

No, you read and reread and think and ponder and read it slower
And think on it until you understand.

Because what the author says has value
To what you are seeking to accomplish.

SO DO YOU REALLY WANT PURITY IN YOUR LIFE?
• Do you really want holiness?
• Do you really want sanctification?

Well that comes through God’s word.
And the fact is that some times it takes work to understand it.

So do the work.
Value God’s word enough to dig at it.

I HAVE GROWN TO LOVE THIS.
When I approach a text that I don’t understand I know that by the time I do I am going to know God so much better, and that is exciting.

And that is really sort of what I am pushing to you tonight.
• Do you meditate on God’s precepts or just let them go?
• Do you regard God’s ways enough that you are devoted to understanding them?

THE PSALMIST WAS.
He is committed to doing the work because he knows two things.

1) “I shall delight in Your statutes”
• He knows he is going to like what he finds.
• He knows it won’t disappoint.

2) “I shall not forget Your word.”
• He knows he will never forget what he learns.

This is the secret to retaining Bible knowledge,
It is to do the work yourself.

If you watch me swing the pick axe and pull a treasure from the rock you may enjoy it; you may even like it; and you may remember it.

But if you do the work of swinging that axe you will remember it forever.

AND SO THE PALMIST IS COMMITTED.
And the end result will be the purity he seeks.

Now, I want to leave you with a great passage on this.
I’ve likely shared it with you before, but it is so good.

TURN TO: PROVERBS 2:1-6

There are four elements here regarding meditation.
This is how you do it.

If you want to be one who does not take a casual approach to Scripture
But you want to be one who hammers at the rock until you understand it,
HERE IS HOW.

And notice first THE RESULT?
(5-6) “Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

That is what we want.
• We want “the fear of the LORD”
• We want “the knowledge of God”
• We want “wisdom”
• We want “knowledge and understanding”

We might add to that list that WE WANT PURITY
Which comes from the knowledge of God’s word.

Well here is what meditation looks like so that you might obtain it.

(1) “My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you,”

We have a word for this, we call it: PRIORITY

First to take the time to “receive” and then to “treasure…within”

If God’s word has no value to you
Then there is no priority to read it.

But this I am sure of:
“If you never read God’s word then you will never benefit from it.”

• You have to receive what God has to say.
• There has to be a desire for it.
• It has to be treasured.

Now eventually this may come naturally.
• As you begin to treasure God’s word you won’t have to be made to receive it,
• But as natural men sometimes the commitment comes first.

Some times you have to exercise the discipline first.
You may honestly say in your heart, “I don’t treasure God’s word like I should and that is why I don’t read it more often.”

Well, make a commitment;
Make a PRIORITY and determine to read God’s word.

That is the first step.

(2) “Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding;”

Here we are talking about: PERSISTENCE

• We have read God’s word.
• We have made it a priority to hear what God has to say.
• Now we incline our heart to understand it.

We ARE NOT just reading it to say we read it.
We ARE reading it to hear what God has to say.

So again the commitment is to understanding.
I want to be able to understand what I read.

Some have found journaling to be helpful here.
That is to say they read something and then they force themselves to write down what they learned.

But it is because there is a desire for understanding.

Then comes the third aspect:
(3) “For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding;”

Now we are talking about: PETITION

• Since Scripture is God-breathed.
• Since Scripture is from the Spirit of God.
• Since a natural man cannot comprehend the things of God apart from the Spirit of God.

Then it makes sense that prayer must be a part of all Bible study.

There has never been a man born
And there will never be a man born
Who is smart enough to understand the Bible
Without the help of God’s Spirit.

And yet, while we pray a lot for blessing and healing and safety how much of your prayer time is devoted to understanding what God is saying?

If you are a preacher or a teacher this comes much easier.

But the point is this.

• People read the Bible,
• They don’t understand it,
• They might ponder it a minute and then walk away
• And say, “I don’t know what that was about.”

Well did you ask God?
• Did you “cry for discernment”?
• Did you “lift your voice for understanding”?

How do you expect to understand God’s word
If you don’t even ask God to help you understand it?

And then the final aspect:
(4) “If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures;”

We call this: PASSION

• Have you ever lost your wallet?
• Have you ever lost your car keys?
• Have you ever lost your cell phone?

Did you look for it?

What happened if you didn’t find it in the first 2 minutes of your search?
You kept looking…

What if you didn’t find it in your first 10 minutes?
You asked someone if they had seen it…
You kept looking…

It was an intense search.

What if you cashed your paycheck and then dropped the cash envelope between the seat and the console of your car, how intently would you work to get it out?

You know the question that is coming.
Do you work that hard to understand the Bible?

Here we see Priority, Persistence, Petition, and Passion.
Those 4 together is what we mean when we talk about
Meditating on God’s word or regarding God’s ways.

• How badly do you want to be made pure?
• How badly do you want holiness?
• God’s word is the tool to bring it about, are you willing to dig until you find it?

(5-6) “Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

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The Wisdom of Civil Submission – Part 3
Ecclesiastes 8:1-17 (14-17)
September 26, 2021

This morning we are going to conclude
What I think has been a difficult but vitally important study
Regarding the wisdom of civil submission.

Certainly as those who have been redeemed by God,
We are well-aware that we are in need of God’s direction
In every area of our lives.

We know there are many instances in which our THINKING
Must be CORRECTED by God through the understanding of His word.

And so, we rejoice any time God confronts our thinking with His truth,
For we do delight in having God transform our minds.

And we are grateful that God would give us wisdom
Even if His wisdom at first runs contrary to ours.

I certainly have felt that during the last 3 weeks of study,
And I would imagine that some of you have felt that too.

Civil submission is NOT something that comes NATURALLY to us,
At least not in our western culture.

We are very individualistic and we are very much about personal rights and freedoms.

AND I AM ALL FOR PERSONAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS.

But focusing on personal rights can at times cause us to struggle,
Especially during those times when God calls us into submission.

And yet Scripture does this continually.

When Peter talks to slaves about their responsibility to be submissive,
He is very careful to make sure they understand that this submission is required even when they serve an unworthy master.

1 Peter 2:18-19 “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.”

When Peter talks to wives about their responsibility to be submissive,
He is very careful to make sure they understand that this submission is required even when they are married to a disobedient man.

1 Peter 3:1-2 “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.”

When Peter talks to husbands about their responsibility to submit to the Lord by loving their wives,
He is very careful to make sure they understand that this is necessary even though they could win the argument by brute force.

1 Peter 3:7 “You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.”

And when Peter calls for us to submit to the governing authorities,
He is very careful to make sure that we understand that this is required even if they are ignorant and foolish men.

1 Peter 2:13-17 “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.”

And if we were looking for a summation
Of why such submission is commanded
Peter would tell us to look no further than CHRIST.

1 Peter 2:21-25 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”

And that really sums up Christian submission.

We don’t do it because those in earthly positions of authority
Have necessarily earned it.

• We do it because God, who is the ultimate authority, has commanded it.
• We do it because Jesus Christ, who is our example, has demonstrated it.
• We do it because the lost, whom we seek to reach, is observing it.
• We do it because ultimately the righteous Judge will reward it.

1 Peter 2:19-20 “For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.”

So, I understand the difficulty of such a study,
Especially in the times in which we live.

But as those who have been redeemed,
We seek also to be redeemed from the foolish thinking of the world
And to walk in wisdom.

And this is the wisdom that has been given to us
Here in the 8th chapter of Ecclesiastes.

I’m not going to go into much detail in rehashing what we have discussed the past 2 weeks, but it is necessary to perhaps refreshen our minds as to the main points of the preacher.

#1 HIS WISDOM
Ecclesiastes 8:1

The preacher reminded us that we are looking here for wisdom.

This is the primary goal of the Christian.
We want to walk in wisdom.
We want to walk as God would have us walk.

And the preacher promised that walking in wisdom would result in causing our “stern face to beam.”

It could remove frustration and replace it with satisfaction.
That is what we are after.

#2 HIS ADVICE
Ecclesiastes 8:2-4

And here the preacher gave us advice that is a little hard to swallow.

“I say, ‘Keep the command of the king because of the oath before God.’”

It is a hard command.
Especially when you have an INCOMPETENT or even IMMORAL king.

Yet, the preacher reminded NOT to rebel, NOT to join a revolt,
And even to be careful questioning him.

I know that this flies right in the face of our red-blooded views
Of American patriotism.
But we aren’t after what feels right, we are after wisdom.

And according to Scripture, wisdom is to submit to the civil authorities.

Now, again, we make our DISTINCTION that not on the table in Ecclesiastes would be a king who commands us to disobey God.

That is a different scenario, and under such circumstances
Scripture tells us that wisdom is to disobey the king.

We saw that last time in Revelation 13 regarding the mark of the beast.
Such commands must be disobeyed.

However, even then I would say that
You still DON’T SEE Scripture calling for a revolution.

• To be certain Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego didn’t bow, but they also didn’t try to overthrow Nebuchadnezzar. They submitted to the fiery furnace.

• To be certain Daniel refused to quit praying but he didn’t try to rally the Jews to fight against the Medes. Daniel submitted to the den of lions.

• To be certain the Apostles refused to quit preaching Jesus and the resurrection, but they didn’t try to lead a militia into the temple to overthrow Annas or Caiaphas.

There are times when a Christian must resist a civil command,
But even then we still recognize a certain level of submission
If not to the command then to the consequences.

But here in Ecclesiastes
We DON’T HAVE a king who is commanding disobedience to God,
He is just a bad king who harms those under his authority.

And the ADVICE of the preacher is to submit.

#3 HIS EXPLANATION
Ecclesiastes 8:5-8

Here he told us why we should submit.
And his reasoning was spot on.

1) Obedience to the king will cause less trouble for you in this life. (5a)
• The civil authorities have the power to arrest and imprison you,
• If you rebel you will bring trouble on yourselves.

2) A wise man knows that God is in control. (5b-6)
• Even when the Jews were commanded to submit to Nebuchadnezzar they were called to do it in faith that God was at work.

3) You don’t know the future or what God is doing. (7)
• It doesn’t make much sense for a man who doesn’t know the future
• To rebel against the command of a God who does know the future.

4) Evil never delivered anyone. (8)
• You will never find deliverance in your life through disobeying God.
• No matter how bad the situation and how difficult the circumstances, walking contrary to God’s command will never work.

And so we apply wisdom here.
• We don’t know what God is doing.
• We don’t see how it could work.
• But wisdom is not understanding, wisdom is trusting that God does.

And that is the preacher’s explanation

And then last time we started looking at this 4th point.
#4 HIS OBSERVATION
Ecclesiastes 8:9-15

It is NOT AS THOUGH the preacher is living in a time of prosperity
And is OUT OF TOUCH with what true oppression looks like.

He has seen a bad king.
(9) “All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt.”

• He has seen wicked hypocritical men live in life in their evil and then when they die and are buried they are treated like heroes. (10)

• He has seen a justice system that does not punish what is evil and thus it only encourages the wicked to be even more wicked. (11)

So when the preacher tells you to submit to the king,
It’s not like he doesn’t understand what it is to live under a bad king.

So why would a Godly man who loves righteousness be willing to submit to an ungodly king who contributes to the spread of evil?

Well because he is exercising wisdom.
• The wisdom that obeys God even when he doesn’t understand.
• The wisdom that knows God is in control.
• The wisdom that realizes he doesn’t know the future, but God does.
• The wisdom that knows that regardless of the problem disobedience is never
the answer.

And we might add he is exercising the WISDOM OF FAITH that even though the wicked may appear to escape today, they will not forever.

(12-13) “Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.”

HE KNOWS THAT, HE HANGS ON TO THAT, HE TRUSTS THAT.

But listen, that DOESN’T MEAN he SEES it with his eyes.
Things in his culture are bad.

(14) “There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.”

There is no other explanation for this than that
Here we have a government that has totally disregarded
Their Biblical responsibility from God.

What this man describes is a TOTALLY CORRUPT GOVERNMENT
Which has FAILED in every area of what it was commissioned to do.

There are many ideas today about what a government should be
And what a government should provide.
But what does God say is the legitimate function of the civil authorities?

Romans 13:3-4 “For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”

Paul there describes the legitimate function of the civil government.
“it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”

That is God’s ordained function of the civil government.
It is to be a MORAL RESTRAINT upon humanity.

The gov’t bears the sword, it is a mediator of God’s vengeance,
It is meant to discourage the spread of evil
By bringing wrath and judgment on those who practice evil.

It ISN’T necessarily mandated to run things like:
• Economy and retirement
• Health care and welfare
• Environmentalism or even infrastructure
• Trade or business

From a biblical standpoint the civil government has one job
And that is to punish evil doers.

The civil authorities are another restraint which God has commissioned
To keep sinful man from being as wicked as he might be.

THAT IS THEIR LEGITIMATE FUNCTION.

So what the preacher is speaking of here in his day
Is a government that has totally and completely
Abdicated it’s one legitimate function.

Instead of stopping the spread of evil,
It has actually contributed to the spread of evil.

But in wisdom this man is being asked to submit anyway.
• In wisdom he is instead trusting God’s plan and God’s timing.
• In wisdom he is instead obeying God in faith that God will intervene and one day set things right.

It is a TALL ORDER to be sure,
But as those who desire to be wise and to honor God in this world,
We take the example of our Lord even when being treated unjustly.

1 Peter 2:21-23 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”

That is what we do.
• When reviled we do not revile in return…
• When we suffer we utter no threats…
• Instead we keep entrusting ourselves to Him who judges righteously…

THAT IS WISDOM

BUT SO FAR, none of that has done anything about the frustration
Or “stern face” that the preacher promised to help.

We’ve been at this thing for 14 verses
And if anything our countenance has grown more grim.

But I thought wisdom was supposed to cause our “stern face to beam”

I thought we were supposed to be able to rejoice under this oppression?

WELL HERE YOU GO.
Here is the preacher’s consolation if you will.

(15) “So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.”

Well we’ve certainly been here before.
The preacher likes this piece of advice.

Now, DON’T LOSE FOCUS because all of a sudden he says that he “commended pleasure”.

That DOES NOT MEAN that he is now reversing his previous stance
That seeking pleasure as the source of satisfaction is like striving after wind.

HE IS NOT CHANGING HIS STANCE.

But at the same time he is not throwing out pleasure altogether either.

But there is a difference between
Pleasure that is generated by the world
And pleasure that is generated by faith.

In fact, even as we said back in chapter 2 when talking about the futility of pleasure we noted that it is God who gave you the capacity for pleasure.
• God created your nervous system…
• God gave you the ability to feel pleasure and euphoria and joy…
• Certainly all pleasure is not sinful.

And here the preacher points you to that reality.

He says, “I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry…”

And we’ve heard that before too.

He reminds that there is plenty of evil and bad all around us.
• Watch the news…
• Read social media…
• And you will quickly be thrown into despair over the corruption of our government.

I won’t even argue with you if you say that our government
Seems to be doing their best to ruin our nation.

IT IS A DARK TIME.

So what does the preacher tell us to do?

WELL FIRST, OBVIOUSLY,
Use wisdom and submit knowing that God is in control.

BUT SECONDLY he says “eat…drink and…be merry”

And he has again now retreated to life’s simple pleasures.

Sometimes in our discontentment
We are so eager to see the big picture conformed to our will
That we fail to see the simple blessings right in front of us.

Yes, I would prefer a godly president.
Yes, I would prefer a non-corrupt government.

And it may be true that they succeed in totally ruining life as we know it.
I don’t know, because I don’t know what God is doing.

BUT TODAY, I am at church.
• Today, I worship among friends.
• Today, I sit on padded pews in central air conditioning.
• Today, my refrigerator has food.
• Today, I will eat a good meal and drink a glass of tea.
• Today, I will get a nap in my recliner.

And I will do all this with the absolute certainty that God has promised
That “all things will work together for good to them that love Him.”

NOT ONLY THAT.
But this God who loves me and has promised good to me
Has at the same time SAID THAT I DON’T HAVE TO FIX ANYTHING
Regarding the civil government.

All I have to do is sit back in submission
And trust that He will take care of it all.

Does that not take away your frustration and replace it with a smile?
Does that cause your “stern face to beam”?

Early on in this study we talked about how
God even commanded the children of Israel to submit to Nebuchadnezzar.

He told them to put their neck under his yoke.
• To Habakkuk this was totally inconceivable.
• To Zedekiah this was a command who refused to obey.

Submission to that godless ruler seemed backward in every way.

BUT CAN I REMIND YOU, that at the same time
God was telling the children of Israel to submit to Nebuchadnezzar
GOD ALSO ISSUED A PROMISE TO THEM.

It is a promise you know well.
Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”

How many of you have quoted that verse when facing affliction of various kinds?

How many of you knew that the context of that promise was when God was commanding His people to submit to a pagan ruler?

And could I remind you
Of what Jeremiah told the people who were already in Babylon?

Jeremiah 29:4-7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. ‘Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. ‘Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’”

Again, the command is to make the most of the life you have
While God is at work doing what only God can do.

This is the effect of exercising the wisdom of civil submission.

Now, let’s think about it a second.
• I know we get frustrated with the government…
• I know we get angry at the way they may rule…
• I know a command to submit to them is hard to read…
• I know it is hard to trust God’s plan when we can’t see it…

But would you prefer to open the Bible and read:
“You’re in trouble, your king is ruining everything. You’re only hope is to rebel, revolt and change the situation yourself. God has decided to just let you deal with the problem as seems best to you. Good luck!”

Do you really want to go to war?
Do you want your kids to go to war?
Do you really want the weight of securing justice to fall on your back?

I understand frustration, I really do.
• But I am thankful that the Bible has reminded me again that God is in charge
• All He is asking me to do is trust Him through my submission to His plan.

When I do, I get peace.
When I do, I get joy.
When I do, I get satisfaction.

I already read you a lot of passages from Peter on the call of submission.
Can I read you one more at the end of his letter?

1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

That is the call isn’t it?

So wisdom is what we are after.
• Wisdom is to obey God and submit to the king.
• We do this because God is sovereign and we are not.
• And the joy and peace comes when we quit seeking to control things that are beyond us and learn to appreciate the simple things which God has given.

LOOK AGAIN at verse 15.
“So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.”

Did you catch the end?

When you learn to take satisfaction and joy in the little pleasures which God has granted you along the way…

The preachers says, “this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.”

Isn’t that great!

• Have wisdom enough to trust God.
• Have wisdom enough to rest in God.
• Have wisdom enough to be content with God.
• And God will reward that with joy and satisfaction and strength

That is the preacher’s observation.

His wisdom, His advice, His explanation, His Observation
#5 HIS CONCLUSION
Ecclesiastes 8:16-17

Here comes yet another summary to a very difficult topic.

(16) “When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night),”

That speaks of the depth of his search.
• When he asked you to submit to the king this WASN’T just some idea that came from the hip.
• This WASN’T just some random idea that popped into his brain.

This was the result of a search that he gave his heart to.
This was the result of a search that deprived him of sleep.

He went all out in his search to understand what God was doing
With this wicked king so that he could relate it to you.

It would be nice to know why God brought such rulers to power.

(17) “and I saw every work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, “I know,” he cannot discover.”

There it is again.
You can’t know it.

The quicker we accept our place here
The more stress free life is going to become.

God is not going to allow you up into the control booth
So that you can fully understand why He does what He does
Or allows what He allows or why He brings to power who He brings to power.

HE’S JUST NOT GOING TO TELL YOU THAT.

Wisdom is not when you fully understand.

The wise man is the man who obeys God
Even when he doesn’t understand.

Go back to the story of Jesus if you must.
Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

• Neither one of those men knew about the coming storm.
• Perhaps neither of them knew why it was necessary to build on the rock.
• But the wise man obeyed and the foolish man disobeyed.

There have been more wicked rulers in this world than I can count.
There are currently in this world a bunch of them.

And I don’t know why God brought them to power,
But wisdom tells me I don’t have to understand to obey Him.

And someday, when we are with Christ,
And we know fully just as we are fully known,
Then I am supremely confident that we will say that
“GOD’S PLAN WAS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!”

In the meantime IF YOU NEED SOME REASSURANCE there are some rulers that are explained to us.

We already saw how Nebuchadnezzar was used to purify Israel of her idolatry.
But he’s not the only one we know about.

How about Pharaoh?
That hard-hearted tyrant who enslaved God’s people.

Romans 9:17 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.”

God brought that wicked man to power
So that He could demonstrate His power in crushing him.

How about Pilate?
That cowardly Roman who would not save Jesus.

Acts 3:13-15 “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.”

God used that corrupt coward to secure the atoning work of Jesus.

Some day God will bring Anti-Christ to power,
Who will be the most despicable man the world has ever seen.

But he will be an instrument of God
To drive Israel to Christ so that they might be saved.

THE POINT IS that God knows what He is doing, we are called only to have the wisdom to trust and obey Him.

Now I want to wrap up this study with one more passage.
• We’ve seen all the commands to submit to the governing authorities.
• We’ve seen Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon and Habakkuk.
• We’ve read Romans 13 and 1 Peter.
• We see the many commands to submit.

But there is ONE MORE COMMAND for God’s people
Regarding the civil authorities and I want to leave you with this one.

1 Timothy 2:1-2 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”

The goal is to “lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”

That’s what we want.

The means to obtaining it is not revolt or rebellion
Or getting on social media and bashing the governing authorities.

The means through which we obtain the quiet life is prayer.

We petition the sovereign God who is over all authority
And ask Him for the privilege of leaders who will allow us such a life.

THAT FITS THE NARRATIVE DOESN’T IT

Because our God is the ultimate authority we SUBMIT.
And because our God is the ultimate authority we PETITION Him.

Isaiah 40:21-24 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.”

Rest in that.
Rejoice in that.
Let go of your frustration, walk in wisdom and have joy and peace.

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Thinking About Obedience
Psalms 119:1-8
September 19, 2021

Tonight we enter familiar territory.
As we are studying through the Psalms we now come to Psalm 119.
It is a chapter that have previously studied together on Sunday nights.

Granted we went through this study around 10 years ago,
But I’m sure you’ve not forgotten a single thing that was said.

That’s probably not the case, but those sermons are available
On our website from when we last looked at them
And so I have no desire to just re-preach old notes.

Our objective in that study was to exposit each stanza of that Psalm
And listen to David as he spoke of the invaluable treasure of God’s word.

Tonight we are going to begin retracing our steps,
But we may indeed look at these stanzas a little differently
The second time through.

Often times when we study a Psalm
I am compelled to study it in one setting if it is possible
Because it is important to me to give the overall point of the Psalm.

However, when you do this, there are always statements or verses
That could receive more attention if you had the time to do so.

So, since we EXPOSITED the Psalm the LAST TIME we studied it
And since those sermons are still available to you on our website,
THIS TIME WE MAY TAKE A DIFFERENT APPROACH.

My goal and my intention is to recap certainly the overall theme,
But then perhaps to dive in a little more focused on some aspect.

You might say the first time through we looked at the forest,
This time we may look at some of the trees.

Hopefully we’ll not only be encouraged again by the truth of the chapter
But also be taken a little deeper into some of those truths.

So we begin Psalms 119 again.
You know it as the longest chapter in the Bible.

• There are 176 verses in Psalm 119,
• It is said that 174 of them mention directly the word of God.
• We are confronted with words like “law”, “precepts”, “testimonies”, “statutes”, “ways”, and “judgments”

Those are all synonyms for God’s word
They give us a panoramic view of the God’s word for our lives.

And Psalm 119 opens with a stanza that recognizes
The absolute blessing associated with having, understanding,
And obeying God’s commands.

And let’s ponder that for a moment as we get started.

IS OBEDIENCE A BLESSING?

That is a good question to think about to start.

Often times the word obedience carries a NEGATIVE CONNOTATION,
Just as words like “repentance” or “patience” or “submission”

None of those words are things we like to be told to do.
And more times than not “obedience” is thrown into that category.

Indeed this was the FIRST ATTACK of the enemy against humanity.
• His very first temptation sought to influence humanity that obedience was a negative thing.

Genesis 3:1-5 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Now if you remember the command of God,
It was only that from the tree of knowledge of good and evil that Adam and Eve could not eat.
• Every other tree was free for the picking.
• Every other tree was for them.
• Only that 1 tree was off limits.

That was the only command that humanity had to deal with.
All of humanity had 1 command and 1 command only.

Genesis 2:15-17 “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

But when Satan comes onto the scene
His logic is somewhat twisted and his temptation becomes obvious.

When he spoke to Eve he said, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

Well that is not at all what God said.
But you can see how Satan is trying to cause Eve
To think severely about God’s commands.

In his wording he paints God’s commands to be restrictive
And prohibitive and that which will restrain satisfaction.

Our world has bought that lie hasn’t it?

Our world tends to see Christianity as a religion
That keeps them from doing the things they want to do.

That is how Satan operates, he wants you to think that
Obedience is a cruel trick of God to keep you from enjoying life.

But Eve saw through that first attempt of the enemy.
She responded, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”

Eve survived the first attempt,

But Satan didn’t stop.
He responded again saying, “You surely will not die!”

There Satan sought to get Eve
To overlook the consequences of disobedience.

You won’t get caught, you won’t get in trouble,
You can talk your way out of it, etc…

He continued: “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

There, Satan introduces the thought process that
DISOBEDIENCE IS ACTUALLY FUN AND WORTH IT.

And our world has bought that too.
Look at the way our world advertises
Drinking or sex or gambling or self-centeredness…

Las Vegas represents this land of extreme fun that is just waiting for you!
New Orleans has pleasures a plenty for you to enjoy!

But do you see how Satan works.
1) Obedience is unfair and unfun.
2) Disobedience is not as costly as you think.
3) Disobedience holds satisfaction beyond your wildest dreams

And with that, Eve was sunk.
Genesis 3:6 “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

So you understand the argument:
OBEDIENCE IS A BAD THING

The only people who obey God
• Are either those who are fooled into believing this fairy-tale of nonsense…
• Or those who are hypocritical and judgmental do-gooders…
• Or those who are miserable but afraid of some mean-spirited God of judgment…

And so when someone tells you that you should obey God,
It can often hit you in the forehead like that is a bad thing.

Well, certainly the garden alone taught us otherwise.

Genesis 3:7 “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

• In a moment innocence was gone…
• In a moment intimacy was gone…
• In a moment shame had arrived…

And we haven’t even gotten to the part
Where the curse was released and death began.

But you understand even from the creation account that
Obedience was not to hinder Adam & Eve but to protect them.

And yet Satan somehow convinced them otherwise.

But it forces us again to REVISIT THE QUESTION:
IS OBEDIENCE A BLESSING?

Well, the Psalmist in these first 8 verses
Would answer that question with a resounding YES!

Let me sort of RECAP the exposition for you first.

The key to this opening stanza is actually found in the last line of verse 8
Where the Psalmist says, “Do not forsake me utterly!”

When you add the word “utterly” it would seem to insinuate that
The Psalmist already feels some degree of having been forsaken.
• There is already a kink in the relationship.
• There is already a break in the intimacy.

The fear is that this division will escalate and he will be utterly forsaken.

Most agree that David is the author of this wonderful chapter
So it is not hard to find times when he would have understood this.

We remember after the Bathsheba incident that David had a terrible fear.

Psalms 51:10-12 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.”

What did David mean by that: “Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”?

Well, I think all we have to do is look to David’s predecessor.

God had chosen Saul and anointed him as king,
But there was a disobedience problem with Saul.

• It started when Saul was on the verge of battle with the Philistines and he wanted Samuel to come and offer sacrifice and seek the LORD.

• But when Samuel was delayed,

• Saul did what was forbidden for him and offered the sacrifice himself.

And God’s response:
1 Samuel 13:13-14 “Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

Clearly God was displeased.
• Saul would remain king but any notions of a kingly line were now gone.
• Disobedience did not pay off.

But Saul apparently didn’t learn.
• In 1 Samuel 15 Saul was commanded to go to war against Amalek.
• He was to kill Agag the king and all his people and all his livestock, but again Saul disobeyed.

He spared Agag and some of the animals and it displeased God.
1 Samuel 15:10-11 “Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all night.”

When Samuel went to Saul he confronted him for his rebellion and gave that famous statement:
1 Samuel 15:22-23 “Samuel said, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.”

God rejected Saul.

Follow the story along and we read:
1 Samuel 16:14 “Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him.”

1 Samuel 18:12 “Now Saul was afraid of David, for the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul.”

I think it’s clear what David may have had in mind in Psalms 51
When he said, “Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”

Because of his own failure to obey God he knew the possibilities.
• His disobedience to God had caused a hindrance to his intimacy with God.
• He felt a little forsaken by God.
• His fear was that God would “forsake me utterly”

He is a man living under the dreadful consequences of disobedience

• There was a time when looking at Bathsheba as she bathed was fun.
• There was a time when eliminating her husband seemed like a good idea.

Satan may have whispered in his ear
• “Has God told you that you can’t be with a woman at all?”
• Or perhaps “Go ahead, you’re the king, nothing will happen to you.”
• Or perhaps “Look, you’ve never been with a woman like Bathsheba, you don’t know what you’re missing!”
• In short, OBEDIENCE IS HOLDING YOU BACK!

But now, David is on the other side of disobedience
And he is sitting here in fear because he has blown it.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.
Look at what David says in verses 5-6
(5-6) “Oh that my ways may be established To keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments.”

Have you ever felt that?
• Shame in reading the Bible because it condemns you?

David says, I can’t even look at Your commandments without shame.
• I wish I was an obedient man so I could enjoy reading the Bible.
• I wish I was an obedient man so I could enjoy listening to sermons.
• I wish I was an obedient man so I could enjoy corporate worship.

I have a pretty good idea what disobedience promised David,
But I am also well-aware what it actually delivered.

David was miserable.
• He was ashamed, he was convicted,
• He felt at enmity with God,
• He was afraid that God would forsake him permanently.

And not only that, but David could sit in church
And look around at other people.

Other people seemed to be truly enjoying church.
Other people seemed to be truly enjoying the preaching.
Other people seemed to love reading the Bible.

These people who obey God seem much happier than me.

That is actually how David started the stanza.
(1-3) “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart. They also do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways.”

Look at how happy they all are!
• Those people who “walk in the law of the LORD”
• Those people who “observe His testimonies”
• Those people who “seek Him with all their heart.”
• Those people who “do no unrighteousness”
• Those people who “walk in His ways”

They are “blessed”; they are happy!

They don’t seem to have any shame when they study the Scripture.
They don’t seem to have any fear that God will forsake them.

They didn’t get a night with Bathsheba
BUT they didn’t get the remorse that came with it either.

In essence it is as though David is saying,
“I got to taste the fruit, but they got to stay in the garden.”

It’s no wonder that now, after the fact,
David wishes he had never disobeyed God.

Psalms 1 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.”

And so you see HIS DEEPEST DESIRE.
• He no longer wants Bathsheba…
• He no longer wants the forbidden fruit…

(5-7) “Oh that my ways may be established To keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments. I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments.”

I just want to be obedient to You.
• I want to not have shame when I study the Bible.
• I want to have gratitude in my heart.
• I want to enjoy gazing upon Your righteous judgments.

Do you see him?
Maybe you can identify with him.
• Sin does that to a person.
• It offers endless satisfaction and no consequence,
• But it never delivers.

The fruit was indeed initially good.
• It was a delight to the eyes
• It was able to make one wise

But was it worth leaving the garden?
Was it worth losing intimacy with God?
Was it worth bringing shame and enmity to your marriage?
Was it worth introducing death into the world?
OF COURSE NOT.

Obedience isn’t a restriction meant to keep you from the good life,
Obedience is a restraint meant to protect you from judgment.

David learned that didn’t he?

But that is not all he learned.

There is a statement in the middle of this stanza
And it is the one I want us to consider tonight.

Look at verse 4
(4) “You have ordained Your precepts, That we should keep them diligently.”

When we studied this verse ten years ago it came with the heading,
“GOD IS SERIOUS”
And that is still a great way to put it.

• When God commands obedience He is not joking around.
• When God gives a command it is not optional.
• We don’t get to receive a command from God and then pass it by our judgment seat to see if we agree or not.

It is a matter of Divine authority and there is no room for argument.

There are many things which God commands that I do not understand.
(We’ve been talking about one the last 2 weeks with submission to civil authority)

But what other option do I have but obedience?

David learned that.
There was no amount of reason that justified disobedience.
And Scripture is clear that there is NO EXCUSE for it.

ASK SAUL.
Samuel told him he was not allowed to give the sacrifice.

Saul said:
1 Samuel 13:11-12 “But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.”

Was that acceptable to God? No, God rejected his line.

What about when God told him to kill Agag and everything else that lived, but Saul didn’t do it?

Saul said:
1 Samuel 15:20-21 “Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. “But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”

Was that acceptable to God? No, God rejected Saul.

Adam said:
Genesis 3:12 “The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”

Even said:
Genesis 3:13 “Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Did that make everything ok?
No, they both were covered in shame and forced to leave the garden.

DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD IS NOT OPTIONAL.

But let’s ask the question.
WHY?

Why is disobedience to God’s word not an option?
Because it is God’s word!

“You have ordained Your precepts…”
It is very simply because God said so.

It is one thing to disagree with another person.
• Human logic and experience and education can all be flawed variables that make a person wrong in their thinking.

But God Himself “ordained” His word
And man has no right to disobey it…EVER!

The Hebrew word for “ordained” there is SAVA (tsaw-vaw)

Do you want to see another place it is used?

Genesis 2:16-17 “The LORD God commanded (SAVA) the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

• It didn’t matter how good the tree looked…
• It didn’t matter if Satan told you to go ahead…
• It didn’t matter if your wife offered you a bite…

You couldn’t eat that fruit because God said you can’t eat that fruit.
He ordained it!
He commanded it!

And this applies to every facet of life.
This applies to every facet of the church.

Disobedience to God’s word is not an option.
Just ask David.

BUT THAT ISN’T ALL HE SAID.
David said, “You have ordained Your precepts…”

“precepts” there is certainly a synonym for God’s word.
But it is a very telling and unique synonym.

The word in the Hebrew is PIQQUDIM (pik-koo-deem)
And it speaks of a command.

It comes from the root Hebrew word PAQAD (paw-kad)
Which can mean “to trust” or even “to deposit”

Psalms 31:6 “I hate those who regard vain idols, But I trust in the LORD.”

Isaiah 10:28 “He has come against Aiath, He has passed through Migron; At Michmash he deposited his baggage.”

What we are talking about then is
NOT JUST a command which God has given to man,
But a command which God has entrusted to man;
A command which God has deposited with man.

It is something man did not deserve, but God has given him.
It is something of extreme value which God had entrusted to man.

Paul spoke of God’s word in this way:
1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”

We certainly remember:
Psalms 19:9-10 “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.”

God didn’t just determine to authoritatively put His thumb on us
And give us a bad command and tell us to “Do it or else!”
(though He could have)

Instead, God entrusted His commands to us.

Look at the garden.
• God was not withholding anything from Adam,
• God put Adam in charge of all creation.
• Adam was entrusted with the order and care and management of the garden.
• That command not to eat from the tree was entrusted to Adam.

David was the king of Israel.

Remember when Nathan the prophet confronted David for his great sin and told him the story about the rich man who took the poor man’s lamb and then gave David the famous “You are that man!” sermon.

Remember what else Nathan said:
2 Samuel 12:7-9 “Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. ‘I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! ‘Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.”

Was God seeking to cheat David in this life?
Of course not!
God was seeking to bless David and would have even more.

But David “despised” God’s word.
David failed to treasure that which God had entrusted to him.

But David gets it now.
“You have ordained Your precepts…”
• You commanded us.
• You entrusted Your word to us.
• It is from You and it is wonderful.

And notice what else he says.
“That we should keep them diligently.”

That is to say God’s word is not a suggestion.
It means that God’s word should be kept
“greatly” or “exceedingly” or “to a great degree”.

God’s commands certainly are not optional
But they also are not secondary.

• They are to have preeminence…
• They are to have priority…
They are to be valued and sought and obeyed over every other thought…
Nothing should have mattered more to Adam and Even in that garden
Than the word of God.

But when God’s word took second place to the reasoning of Eve,
Everything fell apart.

God’s word is meant to be kept and kept diligently.
• Strive for it.
• Work at it.
• Focus on it.
• Don’t quit.

David certainly now understood the ramifications for not doing that.

In a moment of insolent rebellion
• David despised God’s commands.
• He saw obedience as a negative thing.
• He decided to do what he wanted instead of what God commanded.

And in return he got fear and dread and confusion and shame.

And now David could look around and see those who did obey
And with every fiber of his being he wished he had done what they did.

They were the blessed ones.
They were the joyful ones.
They were the steadfast ones.
They were the satisfied ones.

It is a tremendous lesson.
Obedience is not a negative thing, it is a blessing from God.

And while we strive for it in life, the tragic reality is that
WE ALL HAVE HAD OUR DAVID MOMENTS.

Not a single one of us has ever earned the blessing which David speaks of here.
• We all know what it is to feel the shame of our sin…
• We all know what it is to feel the fear of condemnation…
• We all know what it is to dread being utterly forsaken by God…

But the Bible presents a solution to us.
Hebrews 10:5-10 “Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’ ” After saying above, “SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

It was Samuel who asked Saul, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD?”

And it is apparent that Jesus knew that.
When He came, He took on a human body
And He did so that He might obey God.

“I have come to do Your will, O God”

And then Jesus offered this body to God on our behalf.
That is to say that Jesus gave this righteousness to God to settle our account.

“By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

He secured for us the blessing that David greatly desired.
He secured for us the security that David so badly wanted.
He secured for us the peace that David was missing.

Jesus did it for us.
He obeyed for us.

Does that mean now that obedience means nothing to us?

Paul can answer:
Romans 6:1-7 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”

No one who values the righteousness which Jesus has provided
Would disrespect that sacrifice so as to return to sin and disobedience.

We say that died with Christ.
We say that we were raised with Him.
We say that we have new life in Him.

And if obedience was important before Him,
Then it is even more so important now!

The simple point tonight is this.
OBEDIENCE IS A CHRISTIAN DESIRE

It is not just a Christian obligation…
It is not just a Christian duty…
It is a Christian desire.

It is not negative, it is positive.
It is not something we run from, it is something we pursue.

God’s commands are not burdensome to us,
They are a treasure meant to protect us from our own logic
And desires and the destructive consequences of sin.

Obedience is important to Christians.

And it is our desire for obedience that continually drives us to Christ
In gratitude for what He has accomplished on our behalf.

So where do you stand?
• Does God’s word matter to you?
• Do you read it so that you might know His will?
• Do you disdain His commands or do you eagerly seek to obey them?
• And have you trusted the One who has obeyed on your behalf?

Psalms 119:1-3 “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart. They also do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways.”

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The Wisdom of Civil Submission – Part 2
Ecclesiastes 8:1-17 (7-13)
September 19, 2021

Well this morning we come back to Ecclesiastes 8 and by now you’ve had a week to sort of ponder and digest what we discussed last week.

I know that this passage seemed to hit on a relevant theme.

There are times when we study texts and topics simply because we are committed to studying through a book, but I am aware that we may not be studying for today but rather a day in the future when the specific text may be more applicable.

But not this one.
This one hits pretty close to home.

The preacher is still dealing with the topic of injustice in the world
And this time it has to do with
Injustice that is the result of BAD CIVIL LEADERS.

He spelled it out.
(9) “All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt.”

The preacher says, “I’ve seen bad rulers who rule in such a way as to harm those who are under their charge.”

And I think that is a common sentiment even today.

Verse 11:
“Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.”

Here the preacher is a little more specific as to
HOW this corrupt ruler has hurt those under his charge.

He encouraged evil doers by failing to punish them in a timely manner.

But that is not all.
(14) “There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.”

Not only does this man fail to punish that which is evil,
But he actually treats the righteous as though they were the wicked.

We could spend time giving examples of exactly what that looks like,
But I think it is safe to say we are probably all aware.

The preacher here is talking about
The injustice of having a corrupt or inept civil ruler.

It is a civil ruler who is crafting a culture where there is no fear of God.

The question pondered by the preacher is this:
• How is a wise man supposed to live in such a culture?
• What does wisdom look like in this situation?
• How do we fear God in a culture that doesn’t?

IT’S A FAIR QUESTION.

And we started looking at it last week.
#1 HIS WISDOM
Ecclesiastes 8:1

Very simply the preacher pointed out that
WHAT WE ARE AFTER in this situation is WISDOM.

“A man’s wisdom illumines him and causes his stern face to beam.”

• Only wisdom is going to lead you to satisfaction.
• Only wisdom is going to lead you to joy.
• Only wisdom is going to lead you to peace.
• Only wisdom is going to lead you to contentment.

If you are frustrated with the current state of affairs
There is but one way to move from a stern face to a joyful one,
And that is through wisdom.

So to reiterate again what we are after in this text.

WE ARE ASKING,
• “How does a wise man live in the midst of a culture that does not fear God?”
• “How does a wise man live when under a civil government that encourages evil and punishes righteousness?”

We only want to know what wisdom looks like.
We only want to know what the man who fears God should do.

WE HAVE TO BE CLEAR ON THAT.

Because you have likely noticed that
There is no shortage of people giving advice as to
How we should respond to our civil leaders and our corrupt society.

But as Christians we are not interested in worldly advice
We want wise advice.

We are not interested in the game plan of the fool,
We want to know how a man who fears God is to walk in this situation.

So we are back to the question of wisdom or fear of the Lord.
What does it look like in this situation?

And we began listening to the answer of the preacher last time.
#2 HIS ADVICE
Ecclesiastes 8:2-4

And here we have a CLASSIC EXAMPLE of
The Bible doing what the Bible often does.

Paul wrote:
Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

This is perhaps the greatest reason I love the Bible.
It confronts and corrects my wrong thinking.

A natural man does not comprehend the things of God.

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”

But God has seen fit to correct our naturally backward thinking
By giving us His word and His Spirit to comprehend it.

1 Corinthians 2:12-13 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”

PERHAPS YOU UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS:

It usually begins with PAIN and GRIEF as Scripture corrects us.
• I couldn’t even begin to count the number of times I have sat down to read or
study Scripture only to have it totally confront the way I think.

This leads to REPENTANCE as we change our mind to align with God.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”

And this happens all the time on every conceivable subject.
If we are not willing to allow Scripture to speak and to correct our thinking then what else can be said but that we are men of foolish pride?

Well, I can tell you that the passage we studied last week,
• Was another example of an area where repentance is necessary in my own life,
• And judging by the number of responses I received regarding the sermon,
• I’m going to venture to guess that I’m not alone.

Because the advice of the preacher did not fit with my natural thinking.

The preacher said:
(2-4) “I say, “Keep the command of the king because of the oath before God. “Do not be in a hurry to leave him. Do not join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases.” Since the word of the king is authoritative, who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

The preacher called for civil submission.
• He told us not to rebel saying, “Do not be in a hurry to leave him.”
• He told us not to join a revolt, saying, “Do not join in an evil matter,”
• He told us to be careful even saying “What are you doing?”

And if I’m honest I didn’t really want to hear any of that,
But it is Scripture none the less.

And it is wisdom.
• The preacher isn’t calling for God’s people to follow the pattern of the world,
• The preacher is calling God’s people to fear God and to walk in wisdom.

And since all authority comes from God,
We are called to submit to all those whom God places over us.

And I would say again that Scripture is not vague here.
Both Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 speak very clearly and directly to the matter.

AND WE SAW THAT LAST TIME.
So if you want to be wise, that is the advice.

And then we started looking at the third point. (but we didn’t finish)
#3 HIS EXPLANATION
Ecclesiastes 8:5-8

We looked at verses 5-6
“He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man’s trouble is heavy upon him.”

We were reminded again of what Paul taught us
That if you want to live in fear of punishment
Then all you have to do is rebel against those in authority.

But if you keep the royal command then you will stay out of trouble.

And the preacher said, “for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure.”

There was our first introduction to wisdom.

The preacher knows that “there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man’s trouble is heavy upon him.”

That is to say that: Even though the times may be difficult
That does not mean God is not still sovereign over all times and matters.

A wise heart, though he may not understand what God is doing,
Does understand that God is still in control of it all.

And we even looked at several scenarios in Scripture
Where God’s people were actually asked to submit to pagan and godless kings because it fit the purpose of God.

We read in Jeremiah where the citizens of Jerusalem were told to put their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon.
• God had determined that Israel had to be punished.
• They had become polytheistic and idolatrous and God’s punishment and subsequent means of purification was a 70 year exile in Babylon.

Pleasant? No!
But it was God’s ordained plan through God’s ordained leader

And to rebel against it would be foolish.

We even read Habakkuk where that prophet could not believe that God would actually raise up the Chaldeans to come and punish Israel.

Habakkuk 1:12-13 “Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct. Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they?”

“God, you can’t use them! Surely you are too holy to show favor to pagans like them!”

Today we might say, “God, surely You don’t approve of Joe Biden!”

And indeed God may not.
God didn’t approve of Nebuchadnezzar either.

But God, in His sovereign purposes,
Which was to punish and purify Israel,
Ordained Nebuchadnezzar as the necessary instrument
To drive Israel back to God.

And so to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar
Was to rebel against the sovereign purposes of God.

THAT IS HARSH, I GET IT.
BUT IT CLARIFIES for us what A WISE MAN does in such circumstances.

“a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure”
BUT THAT WASN’T ALL OF HIS EXPLANATION.
THIS MORNING we continue where we left off.

(7-8) “If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen? No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and evil will not deliver those who practice it.”

First the preacher addresses our ignorance.
It is a simple yet sobering reminder that
WHILE GOD KNOWS THE FUTURE, YOU AND I DO NOT.

Habakkuk argued with God because he couldn’t see any way possible that having the Chaldeans come to power could be good for anyone.

But Habakkuk didn’t know what God knows and neither do we.

(7) “If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?”

That is another way of asking, “Do you know the future?”

Before you rebel against God’s plan,
Are you sure you know what tomorrow holds?

It brings to mind Peter’s rashness before the Lord.
Matthew 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

To Peter a crucified killed Jesus could not possibly be the plan
And thus he (like Habakkuk) argued.

But Jesus reminded Peter of his foolishness and even Satanic influence
That he was willing to give direction to Christ
When he had no knowledge of the plan of God.

That is what the preacher is asking here.
• Do you know what tomorrow holds?
• Are you certain that your plan of rebellion and revolt will work?

MORE THAN THAT, Even if your plan does accomplish your desires, are you sure that your plan will accomplish God’s desires?

It causes us all to close our mouths doesn’t it?

And still the preacher continues…
(8) “No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and evil will not deliver those who practice it.”

Here the preacher again appeals to logic.

First, Can you use the wind to stop the wind? No
Second, Can you stop the day of death? No

So there are things that you can’t control
And there are things that you can’t escape.

Thirdly “there is no discharge in the time of war”

It was a military reference that no king sends people home
When there is a battle to be fought; you need all hands on deck at that moment.

The implication here again is that
Some trials cannot be avoided but must be endured.

And then he gives the main point.
“and evil will not deliver those who practice it.”

There is great wisdom!
• Just like you can’t use wind to stop the wind
• Just like you can’t stop the day of death
• Just like you can’t avoid all trouble
• So you also cannot use evil to escape evil.

What does he mean?
You will never find deliverance by disobeying God.

We saw that last time didn’t we? With ZEDEKIAH.

God told him to submit to Nebuchadnezzar,
Instead Zedekiah tried to go to Egypt, it did not work.

I will be the first to agree that
The advice of the preacher may not be what any of us want to hear,
But are we to assume that our chances are better
If we disregard what God has to say?

This is why the preacher has called for submission.
That is HIS EXPLANATION to the advice he gave.

And when you look at it that way, there really is no other option.

Now, some at this point might wish to argue from a different angle.

Yes, I agree with what the preacher said,
But he doesn’t understand just how bad things are.

• He doesn’t understand just how corrupt our king is.
• He doesn’t understand the brutality of the Chaldeans
• He doesn’t understand the wickedness of the Assyrians
• He doesn’t understand the ineptness of our leaders

So the preacher continues
His wisdom, His advice, His explanation
#4 HIS OBSERVATION
Ecclesiastes 8:9-15

Here he explains to you the type of scenario he is talking about.

“All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt.”

He says, “I’ve seen plenty of corrupt rulers.”

For example:
(10) “So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility.”

What does he mean?

Well I’ve seen wicked men, in power, “who used to go in and out from the holy place.”

That is what we call hypocrisy.
They were wicked but in hypocrisy they were in power.

And then, he says, I have seen those men die.
• But where they shamed in death? No, instead they received a burial.
• When they died, what did people remember about them? Only the good

Their evil and their wickedness was just glazed over and forgotten.
All they did in hypocrisy and wickedness was swept under the rug.

No one learned anything from their corruption.
EVERYONE JUST PRETENDED LIKE THEY WERE A GOOD PERSON.

And that’s not all he has observed.
(11) “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.”

I’ve also seen wicked men live their lives without punishment.
• These were horrible men.
• These were evil men.
• They did evil things.

And I saw that they never seemed to get punished
Instead, all of their wickedness was just sort of overlooked.

And the result is that “the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.”

The fact that they never get punished and even in death find honor
Has done little to discourage others from walking in their footsteps

IS THAT NOT A GRIEF OF OUR TIME?
It is hard to hear of the purely evil acts that go on in our culture and which never get punished.

I’ve read too many stories of late regarding
• Child trafficking and sex trafficking
• And election fraud and bribery and corruption

And the fact that no one ever seems to get punished is hard to swallow.

It only further encourages others to do the same.

Well the preacher says, “I’ve seen that too!”

And whereas we might take that as justification to rebel
The preacher instead calls for the wisdom of faith.

Look at what he says:
(12-13) “Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.”

He’s ALREADY TOLD YOU what he sees going on around him.
Now he tells you what he believes.
• He still believes that a day of reckoning is coming.
• He still believes that God will execute justice.
• He still believes that “vengeance is mine says the Lord”

And it is this belief that allows him
To remain in subjection to God’s commands.

Remember again Asaph in Psalms 73?
• He had such difficulty with the prosperity of the wicked.
• And it was so bad he was tempted to throw his righteousness away.

But God strengthened his faith with the truth of coming justice.
Psalms 73:16-20 “When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.”

God showed Asaph “their end”
They only get away with it today, but not forever.

Now consider again that example of Nebuchadnezzar.
• God had chosen this pagan man as a disciplinarian of Israel.
• God had raised him to power and given Israel into his hands.

Habakkuk said there is no way this could be God’s plan,
Because Babylon was just too wicked.
Surely God wouldn’t allow that.

But at the same time God also revealed BABYLON’S END.
And the amount of Scripture devoted to the demise of Babylon is more than we can read in one sermon, but I can give you the gist of it.

Jeremiah 51:5-10 “For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken By his God, the LORD of hosts, Although their land is full of guilt Before the Holy One of Israel. Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you save his life! Do not be destroyed in her punishment, For this is the LORD’S time of vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her. Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the LORD, Intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are going mad. Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; Wail over her! Bring balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed. We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; Forsake her and let us each go to his own country, For her judgment has reached to heaven And towers up to the very skies. The LORD has brought about our vindication; Come and let us recount in Zion The work of the LORD our God!”

Jeremiah 51:36-40 “Therefore thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am going to plead your case And exact full vengeance for you; And I will dry up her sea And make her fountain dry. “Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, An object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants. “They will roar together like young lions, They will growl like lions’ cubs. “When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet And make them drunk, that they may become jubilant And may sleep a perpetual sleep And not wake up,” declares the LORD. “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, Like rams together with male goats.”

Jeremiah 51:52-53 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will punish her idols, And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land. “Though Babylon should ascend to the heavens, And though she should fortify her lofty stronghold, From Me destroyers will come to her,” declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah 51:56 “For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, And her mighty men will be captured, Their bows are shattered; For the LORD is a God of recompense, He will fully repay.”

There are so many more passages we could read.
But the point is that they will not get away with it.

I TOLD YOU LAST TIME
There is no part of me that thinks Joe Biden is a good leader.
He is a corrupt, immoral, and godless man.

How in the world could we honor a king like that?
How in the world could we submit to a government as corrupt as ours?

We can do it because:
• God says to do it.
• God is in charge and He has a plan.
• We know that when God is finished using Joe Biden, if he does not repent, God will deal with him.

We do not resort to rebellion or revolt against the authority God has established because we trust that God is at work.

THIS IS WISDOM.

NOW, I DO WANT TO ADDRESS ONE MORE THING HERE,
Because I do think balance is needed
(and we’ll just have to finish this text next week)

TURN TO: REVELATION 13

I TOLD YOU LAST TIME that the preacher here DOES NOT TOUCH
The issue of a king who commands you to disobey God.

As we said there are examples of how to handle that.
• Daniel and those 3 Hebrew boys give us a good example there.
• The apostles in Acts give us a good example there.

As we study Ecclesiastes 8
We ARE only discussing the wise response to living under a foolish king,
We are NOT discussing what happens if the king forces disobedience

But I know that many of you are hungry for balance in this understanding so I want to make sure and give it to you.

There is certainly wisdom in civil submission.
But simply for balance sake
I will also give you an example of the wisdom of civil disobedience.

Revelation 13 is the tribulation from the earthly perspective.
• It is the rise and reign of the Anti-Christ and his false prophet (the beast).
• It is Satan’s counterfeit trinity.

And first John gives us a message regarding PERSEVERANCE
And then John gives us a message regarding WISDOM.

In fact, look at verse 18
“Here is wisdom.”

So just like the preacher in Ecclesiastes
John is giving you wisdom in the midst of a corrupt culture.

The PREACHER talks about when you must OBEY,
JOHN is about to tell you when you must DISOBEY.

READ (11-15)

Hopefully you see what is happening here, it is Satan’s counterfeit trinity.
• God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit
• Satan is Dragon, Anti-Christ, and Beast

The beast does for Anti-Christ what the Holy Spirit does for Christ;
HE GLORIFIES HIM AND CALLS PEOPLE TO WORSHIP HIM.

• You see in verse 13 he performs miraculous signs…
• You even see that the Anti-Christ has a fatal wound that was healed (it is a counterfeit death and resurrection…
• In verse 14 the beast demands worship of the Anti-Christ.

Here is your DIFFERENCE between the foolish king we are talking about in Ecclesiastes and the anti-Christ here.
In Ecclesiastes the king just creates an evil culture.
Here you are commanded to join it.

In this scenario men are being forced to worship a false god.

This is a bridge which believers cannot cross, but that is the command.

(16) “And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,”

I hear a lot of discussion about the mark of the beast a lot today.

In helping you identify it, let me make sure you understand that
THE POINT OF THIS MARK IS TO MAKE YOU EASILY IDENTIFIABLE.

• It will not be incognito, it will not be something that can’t be seen,
• It is meant to be gaudy and noticeable and obvious.
• That is why it’s on your hand or your forehead; so it can’t be concealed.
• Everyone will very easily know if you’ve got it or not.

(17) “and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

Now, nothing is said here about martyrdom.
I DO THINK it is somewhat UNDERSTOOD since earlier in the chapter we read of the servants of Christ being killed.

But here the specific detail is that you can’t buy food without the mark.
Because the purpose here is not to kill those who claim to believe
But rather to convert them.

The goal is to get people who know about Jesus to forsake Him for food.

The objective is to force men to idolatrous worship.

And then we read:
(18) “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

And here is where people typically lose their minds.

For years people have read “Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast”

And men have taken it upon themselves to “crack the code”
• And you could probably google it, but I’ve seen that number manipulated to
mean Hitler, Kennedy, Obama, and probably Trump and Biden by now.

But when the Bible tells you to “calculate”
It is NOT SAYING that there is some secret code to be deciphered.

The Greek word there is PSEPHIZO (psay-fid-zo)

Luke 14:28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”

This is the idea here.

John ISN’T SAYING that there is some secret code behind the number.
In fact, the point of the mark is that it is obvious.

“for the number is that of a man; and is number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

I would also point out that
The point here is not some incidental usage of those 3 numbers.

• When I was a kid there was a story going around that Proctor & Gamble put 666 on all their Crest toothpaste tubes if you used Crest you were taking the mark of the beast. (I don’t know if that’s true)

• Well certainly evil men will do foolish things like that, but accidentally using a toothpaste is missing the point.

The point here is public worship of the beast.
The dilemma facing people here is an adamant and public decision
To worship the Anti-Christ.

And the sign of his worshipers is that they take his mark.

Why?
Because Satan is a counterfeiter remember?

Revelation 7:1-3 “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”

In the tribulation God will mark the foreheads of His followers.
So, Satan will do the same.

The point is that you will be asked to publicly state your allegiance.
You have to declare it before you can buy food.

But it’s not a cryptic code.
• There is nothing to figure out.
• There is however a cost to calculate.

And this is where wisdom comes in.
If you agree to worship the beast by taking his mark you will get food,
BUT AT WHAT COST?

Well the cost is spelled out in Scripture.
Revelation 14:9-11 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

So wisdom here is to understand that
A man should not trade eternity for a meal.

Now, what you’ve seen then is wisdom in two different scenarios.

If the government is bad and corrupt, but NOT forcing you to break God’s laws,
• Then you must submit because all authority comes from God and God has said
you must submit, and only a fool breaks God’s commands.

If the government is bad and corrupt and IS forcing you to break God’s laws,
• Then you must not submit because again, only a fool breaks God’s commands.

NOW HERE IS MY FINAL POINT TO BE MADE.

Everyone agrees that it is a bad idea to obey the government if it means breaking God’s Law.

But is it then ok to disobey the government if God has commanded you to submit?

Only a fool disobeys God.
Wisdom is to obey God at all cost no matter if you understand or not.

Now we’re out of time, but we’ll finish this text up next week.

Download Here:

The Champion – Part 2
Psalms 118 (15-29)
September 12, 2021

Last time we met we began walking through this magnificent Psalm
About the Champion of Israel.

It is the final Psalm in a 6 Psalm set known as the Hallel
It was originally meant to commemorate the Passover and the Exodus from Egypt.

And while one could certainly see
How a song of such deliverance could be sung at the event,
This Psalm is not about what happened in Egypt.

• This Psalm is about the true Passover.
• This Psalm is about the true Champion.
• This Psalm is all about Jesus Christ.

And, as we pointed out last time,
The children of Israel even unintentionally fulfilled this Psalm
On the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt.

Matthew 21:9 “The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!”

When you read in verse 25 “O LORD, do save, we beseech You”

• “save” in the Hebrew is YASA (ya-shah)
• “we beseech You” in the Hebrew is ANNA (aw-nah)

(ya-shah-aw-nah) is HOSANNA in your English Bible.

It means SAVE NOW!

We saw this Psalm literally play out before as a great movie script.
It is all about the saving Champion of Israel.

We started looking at this Psalm last time.
We left it at as a cliff-hanger.

So I suppose we should start off by saying,
“Previously on The Champion”

We saw the opening calling is that we would “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

The aim of the Psalm is
• To get us to see the great lovingkindness of the LORD,
• To understand that it is everlasting,
• To give thanks to God for His goodness in extending that lovingkindness to us.

That is the objective.

And in order that we might see His great lovingkindness
The Psalmist tells the story of the champion.

This is where we began.
#1 THE STORY OF THE REDEEMER
Psalms 118:5-21

And we broke this story down into 5 basic points.

1) HIS TURMOIL (5-6)

We saw the Champion in great distress.
He was no doubt in mental anguish as He contemplated the battle before Him.

• And while one might see David as he first contemplates fighting Goliath…
• And while one might see Daniel as he contemplates praying with his window open…

THIS PSALM IS ABOUT JESUS
Who in the garden was in such agony that He sweat drops of blood.

• He began to identify with sinners and for the first time began to contemplate the reality of suffering under the wrath of Holy God.

• The anguish was so much that Jesus actually asked that this cup would pass from Him, but immediately subjected Himself to the will of God.

• It was at this point that angels came and ministered to Him.

• Almost immediately a Roman cohort led by Judas arrived to arrest Him and our Lord demonstrated great meekness by submitting Himself to their plan.

And we can easily see all that occurred in GETHSEMANE recorded in verses 5-7:
“From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place. The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? The LORD is for me among those who help me; Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.”

That was His turmoil.
2) HIS TRUST (8-9)

We noted that after being arrested our Lord endured no less than 6 trials.
Annas – Caiaphas – Sanhedrin – Pilate – Herod – Pilate.

But it was the last trial before Pilate that really stands out.

For Jesus had been condemned by everyone except for Pilate.
Pilate was the first to render a verdict of “Not Guilty”

If anyone could be appealed to by Jesus for a fair trial and an acquittal
Certainly Pilate could help Jesus out.

• But as Pilate spoke to Jesus, Jesus would not speak in return.
• Jesus would not trust Pilate, He would entrust Himself to Him who judges righteously.

And of the scene we know as GABBATHA we read in verses 8-9:
“It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in princes.”

From there we moved forward in the story of our Champion.
3) HIS TRIAL (10-14)

Not His trial in a judicial sense, but in a hardship sense.
This was His battle.

• This was pictured when David stood before the giant.
• This was pictured when Daniel walked into the den of lions.

Ultimately it was what occurred at GOLGOTHA when Jesus was crucified.

• “All nations surrounded me”
• “They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me”
• “The surrounded me like bees;”
• “They were extinguished as a fire of thorns;”

We saw our Champion surrounded and ridiculed.
• Soldiers gambled for His clothes
• Chief Priests sneered His claims of being able to save
• Passers by hurled abuse at Him for claiming to be God’s Son
• Even the criminals hanging next to Him joined in the attacks

But our Champion did not flinch.
He knew that one day every one of these mockers
Would bow in submission to Him.

He knew that “In the name of the LORD I will surely cut them off.”

They were NOT the trial.
They were NOT the battle.

The battle occurred when God’s wrath entered the arena.
(13a) “You pushed me violently saw that I was falling” (literally fell)

Our Champion was treated as an enemy of God.
• Though He was sinless.
• Though He was righteous.
• Though He was pleasing.
• He was treated as though He was the vilest of offenders.

God was pleased to crush Him.

And yet at the same time, in a seeming paradox,
The God who crushed Him also helped Him.

“But the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.”

We heard our Champion, even as He was dying say:
Luke 23:46 “And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last.”

OUR CHAMPION DIED.
Because it was late His body was hastily thrown
Into the borrowed tomb of a rich man.

This was certainly significant for the prophet said:
Isaiah 53:9 “His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”

But our Champion was dead and buried none the less.
• And we could see the women crying that their Savior was dead.
• And we could see the disciples huddled in fear that their Master was dead.
• And we could see the Chief Priests celebrating that their enemy was dead.

We saw them plot and scheme to keep Him dead
By placing a stone over the tomb, sealing the stone,
And stationing a guard to make sure no one stole His body.

BUT AS WE LEFT LAST SUNDAY NIGHT,
The ground was shaking, and an angel was rolling away the stone.

So tonight we pick up the story of our Redeeming Champion.

His Turmoil, His Trust, His Trial
4) HIS TRIUMPH (15-18)

• One could certainly be tempted here to see David lodge a stone in the forehead of the giant and then remove the giant’s head from him…

• And one could imagine the roar of the Israeli army on the hillside as their enemy had been defeated.

• One could certainly be tempted here to see Daniel emerge from the pit unharmed and his enemies thrown there in his stead…

• And one could imagine the roar of the saints as the word spread and their foe had been stopped.

But as amazing as those moments certainly were,
They pale in comparison to the triumph of our Champion.

Matthew 28:1-7 “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

OUR CHAMPION WAS NOW ALIVE AGAIN!

When the Champion did first reveal Himself to the disciples it is said “they worshiped Him”

Paul said:
Romans 1:4 “[He] was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”

And for the first time it began to sink in what just happened.
Our Champion did not lose His battle, He won it.

For our Champion was not fighting God, He was fighting sin and death.

This was the whole purpose for why He came.
Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

THIS HAD BEEN THE PLAN ALL ALONG.
The whole reason our Champion came to earth as a human
Was that He could fight this battle.

• Death was the Goliath we had no chance of conquering.
• Death was the lions we had no chance of surviving.
• Death was the Pharaoh we had no chance of escaping.

And Jesus, our Champion, came to fight Him.

And when He appeared to the apostle John, John recounts the conversation:
Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

Our Champion took death’s best shot.
He clothed Himself in sin,
Stood before a Holy God,
Received full condemnation,
And submitted Himself to death.

BUT DEATH COULD NOT HOLD HIM.

Peter would later say at Pentecost:
Acts 2:24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

No longer would we have to fear death.
No longer would we have to fear condemnation.

For in Christ Jesus there is now no condemnation.
• Jesus closed condemnation’s mouth.

And in Christ Jesus death has now lost it’s sting.
• Jesus removed death’s head.

And so beside verses 15-18 we write the word GRAVESIDE

For that empty grave is where our Lord
Declared victory over sin and death.

And this is exactly what the Psalmist is singing about.
(15-16) “The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.”

“The right hand of the LORD” is none other than our Champion
Who is seated at God’s right hand.

• And as the Psalmist said, He “does valiantly”
• And He is rightly “exalted”

And because of His victory over sin and death
“The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous”

He fought the battle we could not win.
We receive the glory of victory that we could never earn.

And now, because of His victory:
Philippians 2:9-11 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

• He has now been given the name which is above every name.
• He is given the name “Lord”

All because He conquered death on our behalf.

We even hear the post-game press conference of our Champion.
(17-18) “I will not die, but live, And tell of the works of the LORD. The LORD has disciplined me severely, But He has not given me over to death.”

It is what we read about in Psalms 16
Psalms 16:10 “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”

And so our Champion, having endured the battle of His life,
HAS EMERGED VICTORIOUS.

• He is holding the severed head of the giant.
• He has silenced every lion.

And we rejoice because this Champion has promised:
John 14:19 “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.”

That is the Champion’s Triumph

5) HIS TRIBUTE (19-21)

• One could stand by and watch David parading through the streets as the crowds sing, “David has slain his ten-thousands”

But the accomplishment of David is too small
To receive the type of tribute our Champion receives here.

He has now approached the temple.
He has approached the abode of God.

And our Champion has declared “Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD.”

He arose victorious and then goes to present Himself to the Father.

Hebrews 9:11-12 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”

Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;”

When Christ died the veil was torn and the graves were open.

And now Christ having stepped out of the grave
Goes to appear before God on our behalf.

And so beside verses 19-20 we write the word: GLORY
For this is what Christ receives and what He has purchased for us.

Acts 1:9-11 “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

HE ALONE IS RIGHTEOUS.
He alone has the right to draw near to God.

David asked:
Psalms 15:1 “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”

He asked again:
Psalms 24:3 “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?”

And the answer is given:
Psalms 24:4-5 “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

Christ alone is acceptable
And He has gone as the Champion on our behalf.

(20) “This is the gate of the LORD; The righteous will enter through it.”

Not only does Christ enter the gate, but He then becomes the gate.
And through Him, we are allowed to enter through as well.
John 10:7-10 “So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

And because of this we rejoice!
(21) “I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, And You have become my salvation.”

And this has been THE THEME of the entire Hallel.

We already read:
Psalms 116:1-6 “I love the LORD, because He hears My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!” Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.”

And so now at this epic conclusion we have come to realize
That this segment of Psalms known as “The Praise”
Is not about the first Passover, but is actually about the second.

For Jesus Christ has become our Passover.
• It is He who faced death
• It is He who faced sin
• It is He who bore wrath
• And It is He who saved us.

He has become our salvation.

That is the story of the Redeemer.
That is the story of the Champion.

But Psalms 118 doesn’t end there.
• Psalms 118 instead culminates in the worship and gratitude and praise of those who have benefited from the work of the Champion.

The Story of the Redeemer
#2 THE SONG OF THE REDEEMED
Psalms 118:22-29

• This is the song of the Israelites who stood on the hillside watching eagerly as David approached the giant.

• This is the song of the captives who waited eagerly as Daniel entered the den of lions.

This is the song of the redeemed who have seen death defeated because of the work of the true Champion, Jesus Christ.

And we can break this down a little further as well.

1) THE SAVIOR RECOGNIZED (22)

“The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone.”

This statement became a staple of Jesus’ preaching in the temple
And a foundational reality of the preaching of the apostles.

For it now gives us insight into the identity of who those nations where who surrounded and mocked our Champion.
• It was “the builders”
• It was David’s brothers
• It was the very people whom our Champion came to save.

Jesus said:
Matthew 21:42-45 “Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.”

The Champion knew who the enemies where.
It was the very people whom He had come to redeem.

Though our Champion was the only one capable of defeating the foe of sin and death, still the religious elite hated Him for it.

The apostles picked upon this as well.
Acts 4:10-11 “let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. “He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone.”

1 Peter 2:6-7 “For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,”

We find here that our Champion was forced to suffer the cruelest of injustices.
• Namely that He was despised and we did not esteem Him.
• He came to His own and His own did not receive Him.
• He was mocked and beaten
• He was rejected and scorned

And yet, despite the great humiliation,
He went forward and won the victory on our behalf anyway.

He is a great Champion.

2) THE SOVEREIGN REVEALED (23-24)

“This is the LORD’S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

• We certainly cannot overlook who caused this great salvation.
• We certainly cannot overlook who gets the credit.

“This is the LORD’s doing”
• God did this, not man.
• It is the work of God, not man.

In fact, “It is marvelous in our eyes”

That is to say it is something that
Is beyond the realm of human comprehension.

Man would have never thought of such a great plan of salvation as this.
1 Corinthians 2:7-9 “but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

GOD DID THIS, NOT US.

AND THUS WE REJOICE.
“This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

I’m well aware that most of the time that verse is quoted
As sort of a verse to encourage daily optimism and gratitude.

And surely, there is nothing wrong with recognizing God as the sovereign of each day and thus determining to rejoice in the day He sets before you.

However, this verse is not random and this statement is not generic.
• “the day” mentioned here is the day death was slain.
• “the day” mentioned here is the day sin was destroyed.
• “the day” mentioned here is the day Christ our Champion purchased salvation.

This day is the day of salvation.
It “is the day which the LORD has made”

And our response is to “rejoice and be glad in it”

We are called to rejoice in the day of atonement every day of our lives.
Regardless of the gratitude and faith and hope and contentment
That we show in any given day which God gives us,

We are called to always remember this day and “be glad in it”

We never forget or stray from the day our Champion defeated our foe.

We rejoice to God because He is the sovereign who accomplished it all.
The cross was according to
“the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God”

And we rejoice!

3) SALVATION REQUESTED (25-26)

“O LORD, do save, we beseech You; O LORD, we beseech You, do send prosperity! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.”

Here is the song that the masses actually sang
In ignorance and hypocrisy.

The song was CORRECT but the heart was CORRUPT.

• They identified the right Savior, but they soon rejected Him.
• They knew the right Song, but they soon abandoned it.

None the less, the triumphal entry
Became a prophetic fulfillment of Psalms 118,
Even though it was fulfilled by wicked men.

On that day, for a brief moment, the crowd had it right.

This crowd saw the Champion, entering Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt and their request was perfect.

“O LORD, do save, we beseech You”
HOSANNA!

That is the expected cry of every sinner.
That should certainly be the cry of every sinner now
Once they understand the work of the Champion.

When you learn of the work of Christ,
And you comprehend what He has done,
Then there should be no delay in you joining this chorus.

When you see a Savior like Him
Then you should at once cry out, “SAVE ME!”

AND confess Him as the only acceptable and blessed Savior of God.
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.”

• Have you joined this cry?
• Have you joined this shout?
• Have you presented this request?

OR
• Are you one of those Israelites standing in the hillside convinced that if given the chance you could beat Goliath?

• Are you one of those refugees thinking to yourself, I could survive the den of lions?

Go fight your giant then…
Go take on death.

God fight your lions then…
God take on sin.

But if you realize that you are no match for either
Then join the cry of the sinful and beseech the Lord to save you too!

That is the only acceptable response to the work of our Champion.

4) THE SACRIFICE RENDERED (27)

“The LORD is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.”

On one hand Christ presents Himself to the Father on our behalf.
But on the other hand we also present Christ to the Father in faith.

• We come before God, but we no longer bring a sheep.
• We come before God, but we no longer bring a goat or a bull.

We come before God and we present Christ on our behalf.
• We come clothed in His righteousness.
• We stand in the perfect works of Christ and in His atoning death.

“And when before the throne
I stand in him complete
Jesus died, my soul to save
My lips shall still repeat
Jesus paid it all
And all to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
And sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow”

He is the sacrifice we bring to the Father.

We give our all that we main gain Christ
And we give Christ as our acceptable offering to the Father.

If you do not have Christ then you have nothing of worth to give.
• He is the treasure hidden in the field which is worth the cost of everything you
own.
• He is the pearl of such great value that you should trade everything to obtain it.

He alone represents the righteousness which God demands.
He alone represents the atonement which God requires.

Those who have seen the work of the Champion
First confess Him and cry out to Him
Then they are clothed in His righteousness
That they might be acceptable to the Father.

That is the only way to respond to all that He has done.

And then finally:
5) THE SONG RESOUNDS (28-29)

“You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

We end back where we began.
“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

Now perhaps we understand why the Psalmist
Wanted us to be clothed in gratitude for all that God has done for us.

Now we understand the greatness and glory of Christ.

• Who else would face such turmoil in Gethsemane?
• Who else would be so faithful at Gabbatha?
• Who else would fight such a battle at Golgotha?
• Who else has won such victory as the Graveside?
• Who else has been so worthy for such Glory?

ONLY CHRIST.
He is the Champion
He won the battle on our behalf.

And thus we understand why
Every single one of the redeemed
should stop and give thanks to the Lord
For His great lovingkindness toward us.

TONIGHT I ENCOURAGE YOU.
• If you’ve never cried out for salvation from the Champion before then do it tonight.
• If you’ve never confessed Him as Lord then do it tonight.

And if you are His child then give thanks once again.
• And say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.”